Counting Stars with One Heart
by Kitarin
Summary: In the days directly after the last battle, the Gokaiger teams heads for some much-needed sanctuary and Marvelous asks them all an important question... Blue/Red Silver/Green Yellow/Pink Red- everyone? ;


**Author's Note: **This fic was written as a birthday gift for psycochick32. It's set loosely after the last episode, in the gap before the "several months later" curry sequence. Blue/Red, Silver/Green, Yellow/Pink, Red-everyone? ;)

* * *

_Azure._

The sky is so richly, deeply, velvety blue as Marvelous gazes up at it dazedly from his place on his back in the dust, surrounded by his crew, that it looks rather unreal.

Success feels like such a giddy adrenaline rush that it almost overrides the pain he's in.

Almost.

Even so, he wants to charge forward, back out into space, to find another dream to chase, and his eager battered crew would never tell him no, except…

"Captain, I highly suggest that before we embark on another adventure, we indulge ourselves with a lengthy vacation."

"Vacation?"

"To recover… to relax?" The princess tilts her head and smiles, adorable even with dirt smeared across her cheeks, and beside her Luka nods emphatically.

"…Relax?"

* * *

It happens with purpose, and yet, somewhat accidentally tumbles forth, just as most of their plans do.

As with all things Earth, they turn to Gai for suggestions, and eventually find themselves sailing their badly incapacitated ship to one of a series of deserted islands in a sea with aqua water so clear it's possible to see fifty feet to the sandy ocean floor.

"There are to be no weapons…" Ahim eyes Marvelous first, then Luka, "And no other training either…" Her gaze shifts to Joe, "And no fixing the ship yet…" She slides her eyes over to a sheepish Hakase before he can interrupt.

"I've made binders of popular Earth beach vacation activities!" Gai says excitedly, handing one to each of his fellow crewmembers as they stand in a circle on the empty beach.

"Swimming?" Hakase frowns doubtfully, already nervous about the boat sitting out in the water that he's anxious to get back to for more than one reason.

"What's a hammock?" Luka asks curiously, flipping through the book.

Gai watches as his friends look through the pictures he's provided, but it's obvious that what he's really waiting for is Marvelous' reaction.

Unfortunately, the captain isn't really paying any attention to the book at all.

Marvelous has, in fact, been even more quiet than usual in the few days since their defeat of the emperor, almost lost in thought most of the time. The unopened binder drops down into one hand, tucked against his side as he suddenly addresses his crew.

"This is the time where you should seek your peace," he says in his usual obtuse manner. "And decide whether you really wish to rebuild the ship and continue on together as a crew.

"But!" Gai tries to interrupt, but falls silent when Marvelous raises a hand, his expression far more serious than usual.

"If you want out, now is the time to decide," he says, a little more softly, the edge of something else creeping into his voice. "_Especially_ you, Gai. For once we leave this planet, I can't guarantee if or when we'll return."

There's a long moment of silence where the entire crew shifts uncomfortably, eyes flicking around the circle at each other, and then Marvelous turns and walks off down the beach at a casual pace, his hands jammed into his pockets.

Joe's eyes follow his captain for a few moments, and then he sits down, informing the group quite non-chalantly. "I'm going to build a sandcastle."

* * *

It's not a terribly large island, and Marvelous wanders down the coastline for an hour or two, thinking of all that's happened and all they've survived together. He's not even quite certain what possessed him to make such a statement to his ever-loyal crew, but with his own dream complete, the ultimate treasure found… he feels… adrift.

Turning towards the ocean, he watches the waves break one after another against the shore, the water stretching out as far as he can see to meet the edge of the sky. The coast is a little rockier on this side of the island, and Marvelous realizes as his gaze travels that there's someone sitting on an overly large rock, a little ways out into the water.

It's Gokai silver, but it takes Marvelous a moment to realize so – his young apprentice is curled up on himself, arms around one knee and the other leg dangling off the rock, toes trailing in the water.

For all the success and relief they've had in the last few days, Gai's posture shows he is deep in thought and not exactly happy about it.

Interrupting him might influence his important decision, though, and so Marvelous strolls on, around the island and back towards where they first came ashore.

The next crew he stumbles upon are pink and yellow, both having changed into swimsuits to wander down the beach collecting shells for Joe's castle.

Ahim is predictably demure, in a pink one-piece with frills sitting just so across her hips and bosom, while Luka's black and white striped ensemble manages to be both functional and more curve-hugging than anything she's ever usually seen in. The captain grins to himself and leers a little for a moment in secret, watching the two of them as they wander slowly, hands clasped affectionately between them.

Marvelous creeps a little further into the feathery grass of the dunes separating the beach from the inland forest, but keeping himself hidden means he can't quite make out what they are talking about.

They seem to be very deep in conversation, though, until Luka stops excitedly, letting go of Ahim's hand to bend and pluck something off the sand. It's a tornado shell – extremely rare to find intact – and she brushes it off excitedly before placing it carefully into Ahim's hand.

Ahim's delighted laugh is just loud enough to be carried on the wind to Marvelous' ears and she leans in to kiss Luka's cheek. Luka, though, not realizing that they aren't exactly alone, takes Ahim's hand again and pulls her in closer. Ahim lifts a hand to brush Luka's hair back from her face, and then they lean in, lips meeting far less delicately than Marvelous might have expected.

It makes him grin to see the two so happy though, for he can still remember the fierce loner in Luka's eyes and the empty exile in Ahim's.

"Aaaiiiiiyyaaaaaaaaahhhhhh!"

A wail interrupts both the kiss and Marvelous' creeping, and all three turn towards the source of the sound in mutual surprise.

The incredibly shrill noise has come from their own Hakase, halfway up a coconut tree.

"Hakase! What are you doing?" Luka jogs towards green with an eye roll, already knowing she's going to have to climb some trees herself before this is over.

Marvelous can't quite contain his snicker, and the noise is just enough for pink to catch wind of his location. There's enough time to escape, but he doesn't really want to…

"Captain?" The princess' voice is polite with question, but she knows he's there, and pushes the grass aside until she finds his hiding spot, letting the long green strands close behind them.

"Princess," Marvelous grins, and then without preamble, he reaches out to wrap an arm around her waist, the other hand rising to stroke her hair when she lays her head against his shoulder.

"Spying is not on the list of recommended activities, Captain," Ahim says softly, but she smiles, relaxing against him.

"I won't apologize," he grins amiably, then kisses her cheek before letting her go.

"Ahim? Ahim?"

"Go on," he urges her, turning away to head deeper into the forest in the center of the island.

"Will you continue to follow us?" she teases, but isn't surprised when she doesn't get an answer.

Marvelous only walks far enough to change direction, leaving the girls their privacy and instead tailing Hakase and his armful of Luka-obtained coconuts back in the direction of the camp that's begun to be established on the beach in sight of where the Galleon is anchored.

In lieu of being allowed to repair the ship, Hakase has slipped into his other most common habit – cooking – and he carries the fruit back to the beach with a purposeful bounce in his step.

There's an elaborate sand castle there now beside the pile of food Hakase has obtained already, and one Gokai silver derping over it hard.

"Gai!" Hakase grins, dropping the coconuts in the pile and walking towards silver.

"Did you see this castle?" Gai enthuses, circling the structure to study it from every angle. Every tower is intricately carved, and he can't quite believe it's even real. "How did Joe do this?"

"Ah, heh, it's Joe, so…" Hakase shrugs, awkward as ever and then points to his loot. "Do you want to help me with dinner?"

Gai seems much cheerier than when Marvelous spied on him earlier, and when Hakase turns away, he jumps onto green's back, tackling him into the sand with a playful laugh. "Absolutely!"

Hakase yelps in surprise and they roll and tussle for a moment until Gai ends up sitting across Hakase's hips, looking down at the curly-haired boy. Marveous can't hear what they're saying anymore, but he sees an opportunity when Gai leans down and kisses Hakase far more softly than Marvelous would have placed bets on.

With green and silver distracting each other, much to Marvelous' amusement, it's far too easy to snitch himself a snack out of the pile before slipping back into the grass and finally, deeper into the forest again. For a long time he'd worried they'd lose Hakase – that they really had forced him into coming along against his will. And even though it'd taken a little while for all of them to warm up to Gai's presence, in the end, his warm loyalty and his genuine enthusiasm has won them all over.

Truly, Marvelous isn't really worried about any of them wanting to leave the crew, but still felt compelled to ask their feelings at this unique crossroads… to know their hearts were still as one.

And maybe the girls view talking as soothing… maybe Hakase and Gai relax best when they're cooking… but Marvelous already knows that only one thing has ever really been able to unwind him when he's coiled into this tight of a spring.

Joe never leaves much of a trail, but Marvelous knows him too well and follows it easily to find blue in the center of the island, his clothes left in a pile beside a waterfall.

Not bothering to waste any time, especially since he knows that Joe's keen ears will already know he's here, he strips off his own clothes and wades into the waist-deep pool.

His lover and second-in-command is standing under the waterfall, eyes closed and hair streaming wet and down behind him, but he steps away and opens his eyes to regard his captain as Marvelous approaches.

"Do you need me to tell you again what I told you the day we met?" Joe inclines his head a little as he holds out a hand to Marvelous, beckoning him closer.

Marvelous shakes his head and smirks, closing the last steps between them. "This time, we'll choose a new dream together." They surge towards each other, lips and tongues meeting in a kiss as heated as their first, as Joe's promise from long ago echoes in Marvelous' mind.

_I'll follow you until your dream is accomplished._

This is always where Marvelous comes to seek comfort and understanding, to find himself again when he feels lost, he thinks in the last moments before he loses himself completely to the bliss of their embrace. _No matter where in the universe we decide to go next, whatever treasure or dream we decide to chase… Joe will always have my back._

It's only when the sun starts to set, the temperature dropping, that they leave the water and scramble back into their clothes as quickly as possible. And it's not something they usually do, but when Marvelous reaches out to take Joe's hand with a squeeze as they walk towards the beach, Joe smiles in surprises and squeezes back.

By the time they arrive, it's dusk, with the sun setting rose and gold against the turquoise sea, and the smell of dinner is delicious enough to make both of their mouths water.

Joe's castle is covered in tiny seashells and the girls have strung flowers into necklaces that they laughingly hang around red and blue's necks as they arrive.

They eat dinner on one large pirate-emblazoned blanket as the stars begin to come out, each a tiny pinprick of light in the darkening sky. After they're thoroughly stuffed, they all run into the darkened woods, laughing and calling to each other as they gather wood to build the bonfire higher.

Perhaps they'll sleep out under the sky tonight, appreciating this world they've worked so hard to save, Marvelous thinks to himself as he looks around. No one's given him a direct answer to his question besides Joe, but he doesn't feel the need to ask again. For a long time, they all just lay there in a pile, watching for shooting stars and listening to the crash of the waves.

"I've never been to space…." It's Gai who finally interrupts the quiet moment. "So… which one do you think we'll visit next?"

A collective wave of relief passes over the crew and Marvelous grins, pointing at the brightest spot in the sky, then another and another… "All of them, Gokai Silver – we're going to visit all of them."


End file.
